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Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Technology On 12 April, Cosmonautics Day, Russia celebrates sending the first human into space in 1961. Baikonur was where it all started.
Space Oddity: The legends of the Baikonur Cosmodrome
REUTERS
Baikonur a leading symbol of the space age. And as so often happens with all things legendary, the history of Baikonur has become so rich in various stories that it's hard to separate fact from fiction.
The Baikonur Cosmodrome has been the departure point for Soviet and Russian space missions since the 1950s. The history of the space centre is full of surreal stories and legends. YEKATERINA TURYSHEVA RBTH
A valley rich in history
All of the Soviet Union’s legendary space odysseys began from a single point on the map: the Baikonur Cosmodrome, lying in the middle of the endless steppes of Kazakhstan. The first artificial Earth satellite, the first craft to approach the Moon, and the first manned orbital craft spacecraft were all launched here, making
Baikonur means “Rich Valley" in Kazakh. The valley in question, however, is actually a desert lying to the east of the Aral Sea. The Soviet government considered several different locations for the country’s first (and largest) space centre, including Dagestan, the Republic of Mari El, and even the Astrakhan Region.
But the choice was eventually made in favour of a spot in the Kyzylorda Region, Kazakhstan, which was ideally suited for the purpose. The advantages offered by Baikonur included enough space to position ground radio relay stations at the required distance from each other, proximity to the equator, and a sunny climate. For centuries, the nomads that lived in the area had passed the Legend of the Black Herder down the generations. According to the story, a long time ago, the Black Herder fashioned a huge sling out of calf hides and used it to hurl red-hot stones into the sky.
The stones would then fall down and strike the herder’s foes, who would flee in terror. But in the places where the stones fell, no plants would grow, all the animals died, and the land itself remained burnt and barren for many years. The legend, it seems, was an eerie premonition of things to come: the giant "sling”is now hurling “red-hot” rockets into space.
The secret path to the stars Mankind took its first step to the stars on January 12, 1955. On that day, two carriages were detached from the rest of the train at the small railway station of Tyuratam and left there. A group of people
in half-length uniform coats stepped out. These were the advance team that set about preparing for the arrival of the main corps of the builders of Baikonur. It is said that when the Soviet Union’s main space rocket designer, Sergei Korolev, arrived at the site and saw a new railway track leading from the Tyuratam station into the steppe, he gave an order to start building the launch pad right where the track ended. That is how the location was chosen for Gagarin’s Start, Baikonur’s first launch pad. The rails, cast back in the early 20th century, are still being used to transport rockets to their launch positions.
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Incidentally, the cosmodrome itself was initially named Tyuratam, after the railway station. But since the entire construction project was shrouded in utter secrecy, a different name was used in all official documents. What is more, a decoy space centre, with empty shells parading as facilities, was built not far from the real Baikonur. Not content with that, the Soviet officials who oversaw the project then went ahead and ordered a whole decoy town to be built near the decoy space centre, complete with the shells of schools, shops, and apartment blocks. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4